Overview

Pros

Cons

Poorly attached port cover

Flash inconveniently located

Occasional overexposure

Quick Take

The PowerShot 300 HS delivers good images and reliable performance in a variety of shooting conditions.

The Canon Powershot ELPH 300 HS (IXUS 220 HS) is one of several new compact digital cameras recently released by Canon with a new naming convention – “Powershot ELPH xxx HS” rather than “Powershot SDxxx IS.” The ELPH 300 HS is the newest model of the line of compact cameras whose previous version was the SD1400 IS, a fine camera that I reviewed for this website (the earlier versions of the camera, the SD940 IS and SD780 IS, were also reviewed by this website). However, the ELPH 300 HS improves upon the SD1400 IS in several significant ways.

Most importantly, it has a different sensor, a 12.1 megapixel CMOS sensor compared to the 14.1 megapixel CCD sensor of the earlier version. The new sensor is designed to give the camera enhanced low light image quality and faster speed. The new camera also has a lens with a wider angle of view, 24mm compared to 28mm, and more optical zoom, 5x compared to 4x.

The ELPH 300 HS has a higher quality video mode, 1920 x 1080 resolution (full HD) at 24 frames per second, compared to 1280 x 720 (30 fps). It uses Canon’s latest processor, the DIGIC 4. It also has several features that are absent in the older cameras, including a Super Slow Motion video mode, which can record video at up to 240 fps. With all these improvements I was eager to try out Canon’s new camera.